--- title: Mitt Romney Calls on Donald Trump to Release Tax Returns description: Mitt Romney renewed his call for Donald Trump to release his tax returns on Wednesday, warning that it's "too great a risk" to ignore them canonical: https://time.com/4327012/mitt-romney-donald-trump-tax-returns/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-11T22:07:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:41:23.182Z article:section: Politics og:title: Mitt Romney Calls on Donald Trump to Release Tax Returns og:description: Romney warned that Trump's refusal to release them is evidence of a "bombshell" og:url: https://time.com/4327012/mitt-romney-donald-trump-tax-returns/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt75eba719de8fb175/69887f260a4a22ae8f9c88ae/mitt-romney-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: mitt-romney-donald-trump og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Mitt Romney Calls on Donald Trump to Release Tax Returns twitter:description: Romney warned that Trump's refusal to release them is evidence of a "bombshell" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt75eba719de8fb175/69887f260a4a22ae8f9c88ae/mitt-romney-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Mitt Romney Calls on Donald Trump to Release Tax Returns > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Tax Evasion Crackdown [Watch (HLS stream): Tax Evasion Crackdown](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/qBGX1mzE.m3u8) (1:01)  _Published 2016-05-06. The move comes after the Panama Papers detailed the breadth of international tax avoidance through offshore, secret accounts_  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly May 11, 2016 10:07 PM UTC  Left Mitt Romney speaks during the Republican National Committee's winter meeting aboard the USS Midway Museum in San Diego, Calif. on Jan. 16, 2015\. Right Donald Trump waves as he arrives at a caucus night watch party at the Treasure Island Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas on Feb. 23, 2016. Left Mitt Romney speaks during the Republican National Committee's winter meeting aboard the USS Midway Museum in San Diego, Calif. on Jan. 16, 2015\. Right Donald Trump waves as he arrives at a caucus night watch party at the Treasure Island Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas on Feb. 23, 2016.Gregory Bull—AP; Ethan Miller—Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly May 11, 2016 10:07 PM UTC Mitt Romney [renewed his call](https://www.facebook.com/mittromney/posts/10153487016861121) for presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump to release his [tax returns](http://time.com/4326267/donald-trump-presidential-tax-returns-list/) on Wednesday, warning that it’s “too great a risk” to ignore what might be included in the tax documents of a prospective commander-in-chief. In an [interview with the Associated Press](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/087bc8bc5028405c80fa20cea70be877/ap-interview-trump-narrows-vp-list-he-moves-general) on Tuesday, Trump said he doesn’t expect to release his tax returns before November due to an ongoing audit. “There’s nothing to learn from them,” Trump said in the interview, adding that he doesn’t believe voters are interested in them. After Romney’s statement, Trump [said in a Tweet](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/730500562022760448) that he would release his tax returns when the audit is complete, “not after the election.” “It is disqualifying for a modern-day presidential nominee to refuse to release tax returns to the voters, especially one who has not been subject to public scrutiny in either military or public service,” Romney [said in a post on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/mittromney/posts/10153487016861121). “Tax returns provide the public with its sole confirmation of the veracity of a candidate’s representations regarding charities, priorities, wealth, tax conformance, and conflicts of interest.” **Read More:** [5 Interesting Things We Learned From Presidential Tax Returns](http://time.com/4326267/donald-trump-presidential-tax-returns-list/) Romney said the tax returns could contain information about “inappropriate associations with foreign entities, criminal organizations, or other unsavory groups.” The 2012 Republican presidential nominee, who has been a [key figure in the #NeverTrump](http://time.com/4246148/mitt-romney-donald-trump/) movement, [raised the issue](http://time.com/4236690/donald-trump-mitt-romney-tax-fight/) of Trump’s missing tax returns earlier this year. And it was Romney’s father, George Romney, who in 1967 started the presidential campaign tradition of voluntarily releasing tax returns. “There is only one logical explanation for Mr. Trump’s refusal to release his returns: there is a bombshell in them,” Romney said on Wednesday, echoing claims that then-[Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made about Romney](http://time.com/3765158/harry-reid-mitt-romney-no-taxes/) during the 2012 election. 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